


Cabin Boy

by AnbuHawk



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Lil' bit of cussing, M/M, Non-Consensual Touching, very mild
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:00:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23663527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnbuHawk/pseuds/AnbuHawk
Summary: Iruka’s ship is boarded by the fearsome pirate, friend killer Kakashi Hatake.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka
Comments: 11
Kudos: 109





	1. The Will of Fire

Iruka was the Captain of a very particular ship,  _ The Will of Fire _ . This ship was probably the last of its kind in the Verse, a ship with real wooden parts and a genuine blue sun fusion engine capable of propelling the small ship speedily and nimbly. Most importantly, it was said that it maintained its original computer processing and control unit making it impossible for The Village to track. 

Iruka had inherited the ship as a young boy, orphaned during the Third Great War. He spent his youth hungry, apprenticing under cruel masters in the shipyard, who taught him everything he knew about flying but also taught him the type of person he did not want to be. When he was not working, he spent all his time and money fixing and maintaining the ship and once he completed his flight school apprenticeship at sixteen he sailed away from that town for good.

Iruka was the Captain of his own ship. For years, he made his living fairly, running trade for The Village and taking odd jobs, most often teaching new sailors the literal ropes of ships. Mostly, he kept his head down and enjoyed the open space. It was where he felt truly free, he loved how the stars whorled around him and the hum of the engines and the polished gleam of the wooden deck.

He also loved being a Captain. At twenty three he was very young for the job and had to work twice as hard to get respect from other merchants and The Village Guild. To compensate he ran a very tight ship. Everyone had strict duties and treated both the ship and the captain with respect. After so many years of apprenticing under cruel masters he had vowed to never be cruel or unjust. Instead, he treated every crew fairly but firmly. He had high expectations and held his crew to them. The majority of his crew members held Iruka with the sort of fervent respect and awe that few leaders are awarded. The ones who did not left the crew in search of an easier life.

It was during one of those such turnovers, short of crew and stuck at port between jobs when everything changed!

Iruka was the only person on his ship, his first mate, a spunky kid named Naruto had just gone out for his first night off in two and a half months. Normally, it was against Iruka’s policy to be alone on the ship but the kid looked so tired and anyway, with no one on the ship Iruka could finally let himself relax. He strung himself a hammock and laid in the open cargo bay of  _ The Will of Fire _ and soon was lulled to sleep by the wind and warm port air.

Iruka woke with a start as he thought he felt someone’s presence right behind him. As he went to grab his laser cutlass several rough hands grabbed him, his sword was thrown to the floor and he was hauled out of the hammock and to his feet by his hair. His hands were bound in a rough rope and was quickly patted down and disarmed before being turned to find himself face to face with the most feared pirate in the verse.

The Dread pirate, Friend Killer Kakashi!

Of course, Iruka had heard of “Friend Killer Kakashi”, everyone had. To some he was a Robin Hood figure, boarding authoritarian Village ships, stealing supplies and burning the ships to the ground with the Captain and crew inside before sailing off into the ether to deliver the supplies. To others with more sense he was the most feared pirate of the time. All attempts to capture him by The Village had failed, he was sharp as a cutlass and wicked smart. He was always one step ahead, avoiding and sabotaging their plans like he could see right through them. It was said that he would kill anyone on his crew who disobeyed, even friends, and that he never, ever, showed his face.

There was true fear in Iruka’s heart as Kakashi gave him a quick once over with his uncovered eye before giving a nod to his crew which prompted them to drag Iruka, kicking and screaming to the helm of the ship. Kakashi ran a sharp fingernail across Iruka's neck until it snagged on the long silver chain holding his most prized possession, the key to  _ The Will of Fire _ . He inserted the key into the ignition port on the ship and the ancient computer system of the ship whirred to life.

Looking at Iruka, Kakashi demanded

“Put in your ignition sequence code now”

“No,” Iruka replied.

The grip on Iruka's arms tightened painfully. Iruka refused to look away as Kakashi leveled an incredible backhand against his face.

“Now”

“NO!”

Kakashi struck Iruka again, this time harder, and looked at him expectantly, when Iruka made no answer he struck him again this time with a closed fist. Iruka's head rang from the blows and he felt a stream of blood begin to trickle from his nose into his mouth and down his chin but he bore it. He had been hit enough by his abusive masters back in the day to know how to take a hit.

“Now”

“Never” Iruka replied, and he meant it.

“Fuck this” Kakashi growled and he turned away and raised his eyepatch.

Ordinarily, Kakashi preferred to beat the ignition sequence out of a captain instead of using his Sharingan but something about this captain's proud, young face and deep brown eyes just beginning to brim with tears made him pause. To Iruka's blurred vision it looked almost like a reddish glow was emanating from Kakashi’s eye. The console of the ship began to chirp and the screen spluttered to life as the wards on Iruka's ship gave way.

A buff sailor in a tight fitting green flight suit sat down in the copilot's seat and started the engine.

“It runs beautifully sir!” he exclaimed, giving an enthusiastic thumbs up!

”mmm” Kakashi acknowledged. Replacing his eyepatch, he looked at Iruka, now mostly limp in the crushing grip of Ibiki, the giant man who was holding him.

He crouched, grabbing Iruka's pony ponytail he forced him to raise his head and look into his eye.

“Take him to the hold, tie him standing, give him no food and sparse water. I want this man to regret resisting me” he said quietly.

With that, Iruka was drug off, he tried to fight but was quickly subdued with a powerful punch to the gut. As he doubled over, mouth opening to heave and salivating painfully, a gag was shoved into his mouth and he was quickly carried to the hold! There, he was tied thoroughly, back to the mast standing with his legs holding most of the weight as ropes were passed around his torso and under his armpits. His arms were tied behind his back and he was left gagged.

Alone; in the bowels of what was no longer truly his ship, he could hear the pirates above him cheer as the ship’s engines fired up for good and they sped off into the sky away from the port, Iruka’s crew, and any hope he had of being rescued. As the night wore on the engines idled, the lights turned off, the pirates mostly quieted down and Iruka was left to hear only the dripping of his bloodied nose and tears on the waxed wooden floor.

He couldn´t be sure how long he slept but he knew that every waking moment hurt incrementally more than the last. His limbs went painfully numb from lack of circulation and the ropes cut into him unbearably and rubbed him raw whenever he tried to move. Ibiki came back sometimes to give him sips of water from a metal canteen. Sometimes he had a bucket for Iruka to relieve himself. Sometimes, he held the canteen to Iruka's lips but didn't tilt it enough to allow him to have the sweet relief of drought. Once, he filled it with salt water causing Iruka to gag and almost cry. One day, Iruka would swear he didn't come at all.

Kakashi was trying to break him.

On the third day, when Iruka had truly lost sense of the time past, disoriented by the hold’s lights being shifted on and off irregularly, the pain and the dehydration, Kakashi finally came.

He untied Iruka who stumbled forwards and fell to the ground, limbs to numb to support his own weight. Iruka's legs were trembling and his arms refused to cooperate. His arms screamed as Kakashi forced them above his head and removed his shirt, the muscles unused to moving after so long and the joints strained after three days of being tied behind his back. Iruka could do little but protest through his gag as Kakashi removed his boots, pants and undergarments and he could do little but scream when Kakashi picked up a bucket of water and splashed it on him.

Kakashi washed Iruka quickly, he scrubbed the dried blood from Iruka's earlier nose bleed, and watched Iruka's face carefully as he examined the huge mottled black and blue that Ibiki´s punch had left him as well as took extra time to clean and examine Iruka's reddened and bleeding wrists. His rough hands spared no part of Iruka as they travelled through his hair, massaging his tight shoulders down his sides and briefly paused before passing over his crotch.

Iruka's hands came to his mouth and he cried through his gag as the Pirates calloused hands squeezed him and a thumb swiped over the head of his dick. Then, just like that Kakashi was done. He threw a folded towel and a set crew clothes down in front of Iruka and said

“Put these on and join us for dinner when you can stand” With that he left, taking Iruka's old clothes with him.

After a few minutes, with effort, Iruka raised himself to his knees and untied the bandana that had been shoved into his mouth as a makeshift gag. He tenderly messaged him gums and, feeling how dry his mouth was crawled over to the nearly empty bucket for a drink of water. Trying to cup the water and bring it to his mouth he cursed at how shaky his hands were and how shaky he felt. He persevered and after a few failed attempts managed to raise several palmfulls of water to his mouth.

“Come join us for dinner” he thought looking scornfully at the crew uniform Kakashi had left him. “what on earth can he want from me now”.

He had half a mind to refuse the uniform and stay in the hold but the sweet smell of food wafting through the air and the fact that without the uniform he was naked as the day he was born was too much to resist. It had been several days since he last ate and his stomach growled something frighteningly.

He bullied his aching limbs into the rough clothes and stepped out into the well-lit hallway.

Kakashi´s crew must have stocked up at port because the food that was prepared looked good and fresh there were green vegetables, oranges and wine. On the right side of Kakashi there was an open seat. Infront of it sat a plate with no silverware.

“Ah” Iruka thought. “So, they don't trust me yet.”

He gingerly made his way around the room, skirting around Ibiki wincing as he remembered his painful punch and, with a cursory glance at Kakashi, sat down.

Kakashi might have been smiling at him from under his mask

“Mah, eat slow” he said, watching Iruka ravenously devour as much food as quickly as he could.

“Iruka. Slow down. You'll puke´” He put a firm hand on Iruka's shoulder.

This seemed to steady Iruka who took a few big gulps of water before pausing to sit up and look around.

Iruka took in the crew. They were a ragtag bunch and just about the skeleton crew one would need to keep  _ The Will of Fire _ going. They looked a little lean themselves and were dressed in a variety of fashions. One wore an obnoxious green flight suit, another wore a bandana similar to Kakashi’s but instead of pulling it up to the nose iit was tucked under his chin, a strong looking spiky haired woman with a snake sitting adjacent to Iruka winked at him. Finally, he turned his gaze to Kakashi who was skillfully passing forkfuls of food under his bandana.

Iruka caught a glimpse of chin; pale and chiseled, and a beauty mark perched on top of a pink set of lips.

Suddenly, something clicked into place in Iruka's mind!

“Y-Y-You’re not just some Pirate!” he spluttered “You’re Kakashi Hatake! The youngest general ever! You fought for the Resistance!

Iruka turned his eye back to the crowd of Pirates before him, many wore brown coats, a signature to the failed Resistance movement, some were sporting bandages that no doubt covered old war wounds.

Standing from his seat Iruka leaned one hand on the table to steady himself , he turned to Kakashi and in measured voice said: “Why in the good fuck are you stealing ships if you’re a resistance general” Iruka’s voice began to rise to a shout “And why the fuck did you steal MY ship and why didn’t you just kill me!”

“Mah Iruka”, Kakashi said with the same subdued tone as always but the tension in his shoulders and set of his jaw betrayed that he wouldn’t hesitate to put Iruka on his ass if he took one step closer. “Sit down, eat some more”.

Then he adds, almost like an afterthought “I didn’t kill you because truthfully the rumors that I’m a heartless murderer and a ‘friend killer’ are greatly exaggerated. I don’t kill without cause, and besides… I think you may prove useful… Cabin boy.”

.

.

.

“C-C-C Cabin boy!” Iruka spluttered, he flushed red, the hand he was using to support himself on the table grew slick with sweat and he suddenly felt sick although he didn’t know why.

“ Yes” Kakashi replied, as the crew burst out laughing, “ Unless of course you prefer being tied to the mast in the hold”

“ I-I-I’m, I’m I-I --Damn it now listen to me!” He forced the last phrase out of his mouth and gathered up the remnants of captain-like dignity he still retained turned to Kakashi and looking him in the eye said:

“I don’t normally stutter so let me make myself abundantly clear; this is _ The Will of Fire _ ; I am her captain and you can kill me or beat me or do whatever you like but she will never be yours! The Will of Fire is freedom for me and my crew, my damn good crew, and now you’ve gone and stole that from me, from her….”

Kakashi interrupted him “Mah Iruka” he cooed, “I didn’t want to hurt you, but I think I did what I needed to by giving you some time to cool off in the hold, you see, stealing ships is dangerous business and we didn’t need you underfoot”

“Don’t you see! Iruka yelled “I’m not mad that you hurt me damn it! I don’t care what you do to me, you can tie me in the hold again and leave me to rot, for all I care you can freaking molest me again but damn you if I’m going to watch you hurt my ship!”

“I’m”- He stopped, the jeering from the crew had been replaced by the dull roar of blood rushing in his ears, he felt something wet running down his face, at first, he thought it was tears but when he wiped his nose his hand came away red. His bloodied hand was shaking and through his blurring vision he saw Ibiki get up, heavy chair scraping across the floor as he shouted something to Kakashi. Iruka turned to Kakashi who was standing, raising his eyepatch, the red sharingan eye pinwheeling urgently, both eyes searching Iruka’s face worriedly, his arms outstretched. Iruka tried to meet Kakashi’s glare with an equally stern look but he found himself looking first at the ceiling and next at an endless sky of gray stars as he slipped into unconsciousness.


	2. Ministrations

Iruka woke briefly, hyperventilating, a pale hand stroking his own and a calm voice told him,

“You fainted, you’re okay but Ibiki started you on an I.V. I’m sorry about that. Go back to sleep”.

Then another hand started smoothing his hair and he fell back into a restless sleep.

When he woke again, he was surprised to see a very familiar cabin ceiling, it was the captain’s quarters and the bedroom he had woken up in every day since he was Sixteen. Next to him Kakashi sat, his back propped up on several pillows reading a popular smutty novel.

“nnnggg” Iruka groaned involuntarily, he was parched, hungry, disoriented and still very very sore from his time in the hold. He was also extremely surprised to see Kakashi Hatake in his bed.

He groaned again pushing himself to a sitting position, he winced as he experimentally prodded his burning shoulders and gratefully reached for the glass of water by his side of the bed. The back of his hand twinged, he eyed the dark spot of dried blood. After a long drink and a brief coughing fit during which Kakashi side eyed him, his mind turned to why the hell Kakashi Hatake was in his bed, or rather why he was in Kakashi’s. He figured:

1) The captain’s room was the only room that locked from the inside

2) Kakashi is a pervert.

Gaging his theory, he leveled an accusatory glance at Kakashi and cracked: “I suppose I should be grateful it’s just my shoulders that are sore”

Kakashi lowered his book, he turned to Iruka and said genuinely “mah Iruka, I may be a pervert but I’m not a rapist” and raised his book again.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Kakashi seemingly engrossed in his book before Iruka got up, a little unsteadily, and tried the door, finding it locked he stretched a little before becoming lightheaded again and returning to sit on the corner of the bed still messaging shoulders and prodding experimentally at his sore hips.

It was Kakashi who broke the silence first, it appeared as though he had finished his chapter.

“Here” he said, snapping his book shut, “Let me help you with that”

“Huh?” Iruka said

“I’m offering a massage, you can keep your shirt on if you like but it will be better if you take it off”

Iruka raised an eyebrow at the pirate but laid down, keeping his shirt on and feeling significantly awkward. That uncomfortableness soon left him as Kakashi started massaging the knot out of his right shoulder.

Iruka groaned and relaxed into the mattress, finally letting some of the tension out of his frame as Kakashi slathered some lotion on his hands and slipped them under Iruka’s shirt so he could fully attack the knots in his shoulders and back without hurting him. Pretty soon Iruka was struggling out of his shirt wanting even more massage.

Obviously, Iruka objective knew he had a problem with Kakashi, THE PIRATE, man who kidnapped him and stole his ship, infuriating, ice cold then suddenly warm, ex rebel leader and face of sooooooo many propaganda posters that Iruka may have kept stuffed under his mattress, but the other part of his brain could not care as long as Kakashi never stopped doing that thing with his hands.

Kakashi’s skilled hands worked down Iruka's back, his thumbs just barely dipped below the waistband of Iruka's pants to massage the tightness out of the base of his spine.

When Kakashi finished his ministrations he gently tugged Iruka's shirt back on over his head and with a gentle touch jostled Iruka fully awake and said;

“There you go, feeling better?”

“mmmmff” Iruka replied happily

Then Kakashi said in a bit more businesslike of a tone: “come on let’s get breakfast while we still can”

.

.

They were way late for breakfast, Kakashi had to beg Anko for food. Their eggs arrived after much teasing.

“So who’d you steal these from,” Iruka said with a slightly guilty infection.

“No one” Kakashi replied “Let’s eat then I’ll brief you on your duties”

Iruka looked at Kakashi skeptically “So I’m part of the crew now?”

“Part of the ship, part of the crew” Kakashi replied.

“Hmmm” Iruka said into his eggs. “Maybe we can make this work, but I have some demands”

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow but didn’t say anything so Iruka continued; “You know I had plenty of time to think while I was in the hold and I figured something out”

“And what is that Cabin boy”, Kakahsi replied teasingly.

“You need me” Iruka said proudly, “I’m the only person in the verse who can keep  _ The Will of Fire  _ flying”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get a crew, get a ship, keep flying. Thanks to everyone who read ch. 1!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m pretty sure this is a crack fic now btw. sorry this update took so long, I needed to take a break and come back to this fic once i cared a little less.

“Oh?” Kakashi bluffed, raising an eyebrow in mock surprise.

“Heck yea and don’t you even try to deny it, so if you want to keep this bird in the air and away from The Village then you’re going to have to grant my simple demands”

“I’m intrigued,”

“Well” Iruka steeled himself to continue, “I meant what I said earlier, this ship is freedom for my Crew. I want to bring some of them back onboard, my first mate Naruto for starters, plus Sakura. She’s the best medic in the verse. Then there’s this bratty teen named Sasuke and his older brother too, they can navigate the Sunagakure run in under 3 parsecs”. Iruka listed them off on his fingers.

“That’s impossible, it's supposed to take at least 5 parsecs”, Kakashi said looking intrigued.

“Yea well… believe it” Iruka said with a chuckle. “That’s about it”.

“You’re sure” 

“Well yea, my crew, at least the ones that would want to stay and don’t have another home to turn too”.

“And you are not worried, say, about yourself”, said Kakashi, lowering his glance, “ I am a fearsome Pirate after all, I hurt you, quite badly. 

“I ummm, well I didn’t really think about… me, er- myself, I guess I, hmm- want … to be safe, I mean don’t hurt me and I don’t want to hurt anyone, you know.

“Iruka”, Kakashi said, looking slightly taken aback, “I- you’re very selfless.

“Honestly Kakashi, all I want is a ship, my crew and to keep flying”

Kakashi paused, rubbing his chin in an impression of deep thought. “I think we have some common ground. Now, the floor won’t mop itself”. 

“Ah yes.”

.

.

.

Iruka more than proved himself to be a good worker. Despite being on the ship for four days the pirates had managed quite a lot of dirt and damage. While it had been a long time since Iruka had mopped any floors but 16 years of muscle memory didn't fail.

Iruka tore through the dining room, grimacing at the new new scuff marks and apparent puncture wounds that the pirates had left on the table.

“How how how! I have a crew of teenagers and they clean up after themselves better than this!” he cursed. Then flinging open the door to the scullery and galley he felt his jaw hit the ground. Four days of dishes, pots and pans all piled up in the sink and that cook, the purpled haired snake lady ASLEEP on the counter.

Iruka felt his face redden, his temper, that he kept reserved for unruly crew members bubbled under the surface but he tamped it down with a few deep breaths and muttering 

“your still a prisoner Iruka, don’t do anything stuped” he proceeded to quite loudly and violently clean the kitchen. 

Anko shivered a little, still fast asleep on the table, drooling onto a spoon rest. 

“Gosh she must be exhausted to sleep through all that” Iruka said quietly to himself as he shook out the table cloth from the dining table. He started folding it before unfolding it again and gently draping it over the sleeping figure. 

If he cleaned a little quieter after that, well no one would know.

.

.

.

He cleaned the scullery, kitchen, dining room and main hall before heading to the engine compartment around noon, the soot build up in there could get quite bad if no one took care of it.

When he arrived he found a mess! A hammock was hung up in one quarter and the wall above the catalytic converter was already starting to tarnish with a black soot. 

By the end of the day Iruka was dirty, sweaty, sore but beaming with pride as the engine compartment gleamed with a luster it hadn’t had for years. It had been a long time since he seriously deep cleaned his ship and he had quite relished the opportunity to care and fully re familiarize himself with the engine compartment. 

Dusting off his hands he turned the corner and ran, directly into a wall that he didn’t remember being there.

“Eek, oh oof” he reeled backwards a step, hand rising to stem the blood that was just beginning to flow from his nose,again, and looked up. His neck craned at an awkward angle until his eyes met the stern glare of Ibiki, who was standing there rubbing his pec where Iruka's face had collided.

“It does that a lot hmm?”

“Excube me,” Iruka replied, pinching his nose.

“ Do you get nose bleeds a lot?” Ibiki interrogated.

“Ah um no its, I think it may be stress”

“Ah” Ibiki said again, so you do get them a lot”

“Well I’m, no, not since I got a good crew” Iruka replied. 

“Hmm, mind if I look”

“Well, yea” Iruka replied, trying to backpedal but finding himself trapped, back to the engine, Ibiki’s hulking figure blocking the exit. 

Ibiki produced a flashlight, seemingly out of thin air. “Hold still, I’m the crews medic”

“Aren't you a little, ya know,....”

“Scarred, ugly, big, stupid looking” Ibiki supplied with a light shrug

“Maybe having too good of a right hook to be a medic” Iruka finished. 

Ibiki paused for a second, almost a smile danced across his scared face before he pulled his expresion back into a tight frown, he examined Iruka's nose for a second before saying.

“Hold still i’m going to cauterize it”

“WHAT NO ARE YOU MAD!!” Iruka began to struggle, he desperately looked for a way out that didn’t bring him closer to Ibiki.

Ibiki let his scrabble for a second before breaking out in a peal of laughter.

“Mwaa ha haa!, well if your nose isn’t spraying blood now I don’t think it's going to be a problem. Oh you should have seen your face” He wiped a tear from his eye. “Although if the nose bleeds to become a problem I can cauterize it for you, it's really quite painless” 

Then he stepped back, ceding the doorway.

“Thanks, I'll think about it,” Iruka replied, suddenly very much in a hurry. “By now”.

.

.

.

Truthfully Iruka didn’t know where he was going, he was still reeling from his encounter with Ibiki so when he ended up in the crew's men's room he really wasn’t surprised. 

He rushed through the double doors and stopped dead in his tracks, eyes glued on the most absurd sight he had ever seen.

The pilot was pissing, his flight suit entirely unzipped revealing an incredibly well defined upper body and an uncomfortable amount of butt crack. What's more both his hands were on his waste to hold up the jumpsuit. 

“NOT A DROP SPILT ANOTHER PERFECT EXECUTION” the man cried as he zipped back into his jumpsuit with incredible speed. He turned around and immediately began approaching Iruka.

“Whait whoa wash” But before he could get through the sentence, much less complete the thought he was pulled into the most ferocious handshake of his life. It was genuinely painful. The pilot gripped his hand with crushing strength and shook with such ferocity Iruka almost thought he’d have to visit that Ibiki doctor with a dislocated elbow.

“IT'S A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU FRIEND IRUKA” the green man bellowed. “I’M MIGHT GUY BUT MOST PEOPLE CALL ME GUY SENSEI”

“Oh umm pleasure to meet you” Iruka stured out between the clacking of his teeth as the green man redoubled his efforts to shake his arm out of his socket. 

“ANYONES WHO IS A FRIEND OF KAKASHI’S IS A FRIEND OF MINE” 

“Well i don’t know if we’re friends”

“NONSENSE! I CAN ALWAYS TELL! YOUR BOTH MEN WITH SUCH YOUTHFUL VIGOR”

A sensor beeps from the bridge, “warning close object” 

“OH BEASTS! WHO’S FLYING THIS THING, OH RIGHT THAT’D BE ME, I’M OFF!”

For a second Iruka just stood there cradling his hand, then with a deep sigh he approached the bathroom sink. He washed his hands thoroughly before examining his reflection in the tarnished mirror.

“ I look tired,” he thought to himself. He prodded the yellowing bruise around his eye and wiped the last bits of drying blood from his nose. He briefly considered finding a place to curl up and nap in the crew quarters but he wasn’t sure if he’d be welcome or if it was even a smart idea to take a nap. Generally sleeping on duty was a highly punishable offense. 

He cleaned the bathroom instead, then the hallway, he couldn’t bring himself to clean the crew quarters, he couldn't bear to see what they had done to Naruto's bunk. 

Iruka leaned on his mop, suddenly feeling weak and misty eyed. He thought about the first day he met Naruto, how hungry he had been, how he couldn’t even tell Iruka his parents' names, how, for the first time in his life Iruka had seen in someone that bitter loneliness that had almost destroyed him. 

He imagined all of Naruto's possessions being thrown overboard, the fox plushie Iruka had given him that he kept ‘hidden’ tucked away underneath his blankets for the past few years since he deemed himself to have grown up to snuggle with something. He thought about Naruto's headband, the one he’d earned when he was promoted to first mate, was it still looped between the mesh of the hammock or was it in the ether. Maybe one of those pirates was wearing it for his own. 

Iruka sighed, he slid down the wall to a crouch face buried in his hands and stayed like that, lost in memories, mourning his crew and his ship until the dinner bell rang. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who is still reading, especially everyone who has left comments reminding me to see this amazingly dumb fic through. If it isn’t obvious by now this fic really was never supposed to progress past the kinda hot?? non-con scene (yes i'm a sinner).


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> wrapping it up

Iruka has made it this far in life because he had one thing, a will of fire, his mother had it and had named the ship after it so when she died fighting a rebel war against the corrupt state Iruka had inherited it too. For iruka his will was a drive to keep going, no matter what, to continue on in the face of great adversary, to continue to do what was right. So when that dinner bell rings he stood up, despite the soreness of his shoulders and wrists, despite his ringing ears and light head,, despite his fear of the pirates, despite the hopelessness; he stands, huffs out a breath and braves the dining room. 

He’s greeted by a similar sight, an empty chair next to Kakashi but this time, blessed be the verse there was a full set of silverware. 

Warily Iruka sat down. Honestly he was starting to have mixed feelings about his whole thing. The buff purple hair lady served him a plate of what looked like a nice curry with a wink, across the table Iruak swore he could catch a friendly glance from several of the crew members. He looked back at Kakashi, who was yet again disappearing his food under his mask. 

After a few moments Kakashi clinked his glass and the chatter died down to a dull roar. “I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome our newest member to the crew; Iruka Umino!” he said

“Let's at least make sure you at least get some food in you before you pass out” Ibiki grumbled, and raised his glass. 

Everyone cheered “To a new member of the crew”

“But now an order of business; this Iruka has a few demands” and then Kakshi gestured to Iruka expectantly. “Rise and let them be known”

Iruka genuinely thought he was gonna pass out again. He stood in front of the crowd of pirates fidgeting nervously with the scabs that were just beginning to heal on his wrists. Painfully, a fingernail caught a scab and he winced, then, without looking up he began to speak.

“ I-I know that I don’t deserve it but” , the room was silent, no jeering or trash talk, suddenly uncertain he looked up “… Kakashi??”

“Just tell em’ what you told me' ' Kakashi said, catching Iruka's eye with a warm look, he had stayed standing near him. 

“I have a few demands, it's not much, it's just that this ship is my home, before I had this ship I had nothing, umm I don’t really think I had a home and well you see..” Suddenly his voice wrung with its familiar, captain like fervor! 

“This ship, my crew, were just like you. The Village turned its back on every single one of us! I love my crew, I didn’t have a family until I found my crew! Being a captain has given me things that I’d never had under Village rule. I got off that rock, I finally have a family, I can teach, I have a little brother!”

“You- have a baby brother” Ibiki asked in a surprisingly small voice

“Yes!” Iruka responded, his brown eyes lit with a fierce light “Naruto Uzumaki! He’s my boy, not by blood of course, he’s um an orphan… like me, we found each other down by the docs. No one would take him, or even talk to him, he was practically feral, everyone called him a fox cause he’d bite the hand that fed him but umm he never bit me”

“YOU’RE AND ORPHAN!” Guy cried, leaping from his chair and planting his foot firmly on the table “KAKASHI! YOU-” he stopped under Kakahsi’s hard glare “oh I… maybe could’ve” 

“Ah-” Kakashi’s let out a puff of air “anyone else have anything to say”

“I think he put a blanket over me” Anko said, flashing a very toothy smile Iruka's way.

“He smiled at me, like in a good way” 

“I don’t think that the bathroom has ever been cleaner”

“ If you don’t mind I’d like to go on” Iruka said, turning to Kakashi to address him particularly. “ I only want a couple of things, there are about four members of my crew who will want to come back. I want them to have a home on this ship, I want us to work together. I think we can do it. What do you think?” he finished turning to the croud.

A pause

“What do I think indeed” Yamato answered first with a smirk, then nudged Kakashi “I think you like him senpai”

“Mah, no point in denying that now, Guy, chart a course back to port  Tenkūgakure, looks like we're adding some more members to the crew”

.

.

.


	5. epilogue

Iruka was 26 years old and he could count on one hand the amount of times in his adult life that he woke up in a room that wasn’t the captain quarters on one hand. In the months since Kakashi and his crew had inconveniently “moved” into his ship Iruka and Kakashi had been sharing the room. Honestly it wasn't a big deal, Kakashi read his smutty novels, Iruka had free range of the ship, giving orders, keeping the ship flying, enjoying having his crew back. Honestly, it seemed like Kakashi relished the opportunity to kick back and stop being a captain, afterall, he had been fighting in the war since he was 13, after a full 25 years of service it was time to take a break. 

But beneath the unassuming demeanor Kakashi was still his usual spitfire. He was even more intense then Iruka sometimes, if it came to protecting his crew. Kakashi would personally risk it all to not leave someone behind. Together, Kakashi and Iruka flew one of the fastest, well run ships in the galaxy. They were totally unstoppable, with their untraceable ship, and the last true Uchiha navigators on board. When the ship was threatened they made a terrifying team, quick, efficient, working together like they could read each other's minds, swiftly avoiding conflicts or strategically taking down pursuing village ships. 

When not running from the law Iruka's little crew was thriving, Naruto finally had more mentors and people his age to get along with, Sakura was ambitious, using her medical skills to provide aid for the Outertowns. Kakashi’s crew, much like himself, were happy to finally have a place to call home. The Will of Fire was anything but a pirate ship, it was a refuge and a beacon of hope for all people who dared to rebel against the status quo, who dared turn traders to the village. 

But despite all of this, Iruka was still having a hard time sleeping, not from fear but from a twinge of longing and deep seated guild. For months, as he lay down to sleep he could almost feel the slightly wrinkled, laminated faces of the many Propaganda Poster Kakashis staring up at him, taunting him as if to say ‘When are you going to tell him? Do you think he knows about us?’ As Iruka began to know Kakashi better he was starting to feel his feelings for him change, just the thought that the man he shared his bed with was sleeping above Irukas most secret and juvenile stack of smutty pictures of himself made Irukas skin crawl and his stomach do uncomfortable flips. 

One night, after a particularly close escape Iruka as they lay in bed, Kakashi nursing a rather stunning bruise and his most dog eared copy of Icha Icha , Iruka steeled his resolve, he rolled to his side, propping himself up on one elbow and after a moment said

“Kakashi- I’ve been meaning to tell you something” He rummaged around under the mattress before pulling out one of the clandestine posters “ I may have ummm”

He paused, he had half expected Kakashi to be angry, or disgusted, or to laugh, but Kakashi wasn’t reacting at all, he looked at Iruka with a half lidded expression and said:

“ Mah Iruka, if this is about your little poster collection I’ve known about it for months”

“ You have!” Iruka squeaked, crumpling the poster to his chest.

“Mmmhh yep, I wouldn’t have lasted very long in the War if i didn’t do a thorough search of my ‘liberated’ bedroom would I, especially if I was going to hold you ‘prisoner’ here” Now a slight blush was visible above his mask

“you've known since the very beginning haven't you! Why didn’t you say something! This has been driving me mad!” Iruka felt his face grow flush.

“Well, Iruka, I figured you’d say something when you were ready” Kakashi was looking at him now, an obvious blush climbing high on his cheeks, obviously enjoying seeing Iruka worked up like this

“Hmmm, well, now I just have to think of a way to dispose of them without Naruto finding out, he’s never let me hear the end of it!”

Kakashi gave Iruka an exaggerated eyebrow wiggle “Besides, what do you need those posters for, you've got the real thing right here” 

“ I didn’t, those aren't… I didn’t like you that much!” 

“Didn’t”

“Ummmmm”

“ My my Iruka aren't you full of surprised today” Kakashi reclined

“Like you are THAT surprised”

“ I dunno Iruka, I assumed that I was the only one with good taste in cliche romantic storylines, I mean a handsome pirate captain, a lonesome cabin boy…. Its far to overplayed for your tastes” Kakashi said, putting a special emphasis on ‘ cabin boy’

“I've never been your ‘boy’

“How does ‘the dark eyed, handsome, enthralling Captain the the Will of Fire” sound”

“Yea,I’m that” said Iruka rolling his eyes.

Kakashi just kinda stared 

Suddenly, Iruka realized just how comfortable he had become with Kakashi, how this former threat and enigma and his crew had worked their way into the Will of Fire and into Irukas heart. They were all one Crew now, Naruto was thriving with more people this age and even Sasuke seemed less depressed, through the thick cabin door he could hear merry sounds and thought he could just pick out the sound of Naruto’s voice as he told some long, uninterruptible story.

He looked at Kakashi, face softening as he absorbed the nice sounds of the ship and found that Kakashi was lying on his side again looking at him with the same fond expression.

Suddenly Iruka felt like giggling, he let out a small laugh then a beaming smile! He had his crew, he had his ship and he knew he could keep flying, as long as Kakshi was by his side it didn’t matter where.

Kakashi returned the smile, eye crinkling mirthfully, he said softly

“Iruka”, Kakashi’s voice was low, almost a whisper

Then, his expression grew searching for a second then, hooking a finger in the corner of his mask then voice horse said:

“Iruka, can I kiss you yet”

“Yet! I thought you would never ask”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! This is it! Thank you to everyone who read this fic, it's crazy to imagine that I started this before quarantine. I'm happy to have finished it. I felt like I lost the original thread of the story but overall I think it ended in a pretty sweet place.   
> An amazing huge thank you to everyone who commented! I wouldn't have finished it without you.  
> Lastly, the universe is very loosely based on Joss Whedon's Firefly.

**Author's Note:**

> Ya'll thanks for reading. I'm so sorry to end on a cliffhanger but I will be updating soon. Please comment! I want to hear your thoughts! Stay safe, stay sane, and stay indoors folks. Also major kudos to whoever can guess wich popular sci-fi western this universe is based off of :)


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